The DfE have released further changes to the KS1&2 writing assessment frameworks this term. It is inevitable that these will have real impact on students’ knowledge and language acquisition as they reach KS3. Here are 10 amendments with potentially longer lasting impact.

10 changes and their impact:

1. KS1&2: Proof reading At the end of Year 2, ‘proof reading’ has been added to the ‘greater depth’ level. To achieve this, students will be expected to make simple revisions to their own writing, checking for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. This continues into KS2.KS3 impact: It may be that embedding this practice at such an early age will result in students who are better able to use self-assessment as they move through the primary years. It will largely depend on how much investment individual schools put into this – Will the process be modelled? Will students be expected to do this regularly? Do students get effective feedback to know how and where to look for errors, and what to do when they find them?

2. KS1&2: Secure fit vs. Best fit Having previously worked from a ‘best fit’* model prior to 2017, there will be a return to this following the attempt at a ‘secure fit’** model in Summer 2017. *Best fit: T’s make a fair judgment of a S’s ability based on their own knowledge of the student and the work they consistently produce.**Secure fit: T’s must ensure that S’s have met every single criteria from the assessment framework before claiming they have reached a certain level. The DfE states,

“A pupil’s writing should meet all the statements within the standard at which they are judged. However, teachers can use their discretion to ensure that, on occasion, a particular weakness does not prevent an accurate judgement being made of a pupil’s attainment overall. A teacher’s professional judgement about whether the pupil has met the standard overall takes precedence.”

KS3 impact:There may be greater variation in the opinion of a collection of pupil’s written work. If you have a number of different feeder schools (some secondaries in London have up to 60 of these…) you may find that students arrive with conflicting grades. Schools are moderated at random to ensure accuracy of assessment is upheld, but there will naturally be some discrepancies as a result of greater flexibility. This will also directly address the fact that many students could not reach ‘greater depth’ last year due to poor spelling/handwriting.

3. KS1&2: Writing Conventions Students will continue to learn writing conventions of different styles and genres. This includes knowing that an autobiography requires first person narrative, in contrast to 3rd person narrative for a biography.4. KS1&2: Literary Devices Teachers are expected to embed the explicit teaching of literary techniques such as similes, metaphors and analogies in their teaching of reading and writing.5. KS1&2: Awareness of Reader/Author’s IntentionsStudents are expected to comment on the impact of certain words and phrases chosen by the author and suggest what effect they may have on the reader.KS3 impact: points 3-5Teachers may consider revising their approach to tackling these areas above, reviewing how these are currently mapped out within the KS3 curriculum. It may be that KS3 Leads explore ways to dig deeper into some of these concepts if there is already a surface level understanding. It’s vital that KS3 leaders are mapping their own plans against the KS2 expectations in order to minimise unnecessary overlap, as well as reaching back to ensure students are recalling knowledge learnt previously.

6. KS1&2: Increased use of dictionariesThe use of dictionaries has now been added as an explicit statement on the 2018 writing assessment.KS3 impact:Students may reach KS3 with greater familiarity of a dictionary – and how they work. Students are sometimes presented with a dictionary or thesaurus at KS3 unable to locate the words they need, having not been shown explicitly how to use one. This addition to the framework may reduce issues around this at KS3.

7. KS1&2: Greater emphasis on compositionHaving moved away from a focus on composition in 2017, the DfE have returned to this point for 2018. Students will be required to produce pieces of writing that contain an element of style once again – rather than working solely to a clinical list.KS3 impact:
Students who may have reached expected standard or greater depth as a result of their ability to meet each piece of criteria on a checklist last year will now need to demonstrate that they can write with style. This may have direct impact on students who are tutored for grammar schools, or EAL students who can use a ‘subordinate clause’ or a ‘fronted adverbial’ but continue to find the syntax of regular sentences particularly difficult.

8. KS1&2: Reduced focus on SPaG in the writing assessment*In combination with the point above, it seems as though the DfE have realised that the ‘recipe’ model of writing they had moved towards might not be the best answer after all. In ensuring written pieces contain a checklist of certain features with such precise specifications, students are losing the ability to write with style and flair, thus churning out cohorts of students who use endless amounts of extended noun phrases but only produce bland, clinical pieces of work. *Students will still be required to complete the discrete spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) test.KS3 impact:Students may arrive to KS3 able to use subject terminology to identify SPaG techniques, but less able to apply them to their own writing. It may reveal that students can demonstrate their understanding of such tools in a discrete way on demand, but less able to embed them. This will be largely dependent on the approach of individual schools.

“A significant number of respondents were interested in the potential of comparative judgement as a method for assessing writing. We know that there is promising work taking place amongst the sector to explore the use of comparative judgement in the assessment of writing, notably the Sharing Standards pilot run by No More Marking. We were encouraged by the results of this year’s pilot, which involved 199 schools. We will work with No More Marking to evaluate larger pilots in the near future, to explore the potential of comparative judgement in the assessment system.”

KS3 impact:
These exciting developments in comparative judgment (see the work of @daisychristo and her team) may have direct impact on assessment at KS2, changing the entire process of transition from KS2 to KS3. It makes you wonder whether there will be opportunity here to reduce the vast chasm between primaries and secondaries, promoting greater collaboration of assessment in the best interests of our students.

10. KS1&2: The DfE are exploring local peer moderation

In the same document mentioned above, the DfE mention that they are looking into a local clusters model for peer-to-peer moderation. The consultation says,

“Many respondents expressed interest in a peer-to-peer model of moderation that would involve schools working together in local clusters, overseen by a local moderator. It was felt that this approach could further encourage the sharing of best practice, and support teachers’ professional development on moderation. To explore this model, we intend to run a small-scale pilot in the 2017 to 2018 academic year.”

KS3 impact:
As with point 9, we may see these models cascade beyond KS2 if results from the pilot stage look successful and methods are deemed fit for purpose. More information is due to be released later this academic year.

I love music. Creativity has played a major role in my family for generations. My great grandparents played instruments. My grandma was trained to sing at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, touring concert houses across the globe with her beautiful voice in the 60s, 70s and 80s. My Dad had earned a place at RADA before opting for church ministry instead (quite a career change, yes) and has mastered jazz piano ever since I can remember. My mum is less musical – more adept at art – but brilliant in her own right. The majority of my wider family can play an instrument of some kind; guitar, drums, piano, didgeridoo, flute, banjo, euphonium etc. You name it; we’ve tried it.

As a child I had piano lessons, but my potential for Beethovenian genius was snatched from my little hands each time we moved for my parents’ jobs, making it difficult to continue successfully. (As an aside: as a result of moving I also studied the Aztecs twice and never learned long division until I had to teach it to my Year 6 class at the age of 22.)

I’m pleased to say that, this summer, I succumbed to my ever-increasing desire to play again and bought a piano. I am totally loving it. Whenever I can in the evenings or weekends, I’ll sit for an hour and strike away at the keys in the hope that the chord I’m reaching for resembles something of the graphical note representation I see on the page before me. It’s still hit and miss if truth be told, but I’m definitely way better than I was eight weeks ago.

Why am I harping on about a piano?

Simply, this process of learning that I’m becoming more and more committed to is opening my eyes to the journey we expect our students to travel. The fact that I possess a novice-level understanding of the piano and how it works already might mean that I am building any further knowledge a little quicker, but it’s certainly not easy. I thought I’d put together a top five set of ‘quick learns’ that seem wholly transferable from my own learning experience to the classroom:

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:
Learning anything new must build on prior knowledge, however weak the triggers may be. The brain seems to be constantly trying to make associations; between notes, within chords, from one piece to another.

EXPERTISE:
Making progress will be faster in the presence (and under the direction) of someone whose subject knowledge is far superior to your own.

INTERLEAVING REHEARSAL:
Practising in smaller measures – an hour here and there rather than a whole morning – seems to produce better performance. Opportunities for testing, resting and a chance to forget movements or parts of movements, then returning to a piece a day (or more) later is resulting in longer-term learning.

ADDRESSING ERRORS:
Keeping your fingers locked into the incorrect keys, when you fail to produce the sound you thought you were about to, allows you to check each note and find the misplaced one (or two, or three…). From there, you can find real clarity in the assessment of your own playing over time. Once you’ve identified common error patterns you’re repeatedly making you can focus on the minutiae of specific chord movements and retrain your mind and muscles to move how they should.

FEEDBACK:
Having an audience who is willing to listen to you and give feed back on specific aspects of your playing is a real win. You can lose yourself in the precision of the notes a little, so to have those who possess a level of musicality themselves offering suggestions for development; this can only be a good thing.

In such a brief reflection as this, I’m surprised as to how much of what we preach in the classroom transfers to learning a musical instrument – and beyond. There’s comfort in that.

Watch this space for an invitation to a wonderful Christmas soiree. Or Summer.
Yes, that has a more realistic ring to it.